1. Moisturizer is key, especially if you opt not to use primers.
Personally, I moisturize and use primers. Some people choose not to use primers and that’s totally okay. Primers do keep your makeup on longer and give you a nice even application though. If you decide not to use a primer, at least use a moisturizer with SPF. You want to keep your skin hydrated and safe from the sun and the environment in general. Although I highly recommend using primers. Think of your face as a canvas. You always prime a canvas before painting it because it gets the canvas ready for the paint.

2. Beauty Blenders are a gift from heaven.
I used to apply my foundation with my fingertips, and occasionally a brush. Until I discovered a gift from the heavens above. The Beauty Blender. Using a Beauty Blender gives you such a beautiful, almost airbrushed finish. Plus, blending is so easy when you’re using it. It does soak up product, but I’ll give you a tutorial on how I use my Beauty Blender in the future!

3. Use a light hand, especially when it comes to eyes.
I can not stress this enough. The skin around our eyes is sensitive enough to begin with, it’s also prone to wrinkle. The rougher you are on your eyes, the greater your chance is for wrinkles. You also want to use a light hand because it’s easier to move product around that way.

4. Less is more you can always build anything.
This goes along the lines of using a light hand. If you start with too much product on your brush, chances are you’ll end up looking a little scary. Always slowly build color, because you can always add more but taking things off is difficult. Especially when you’re almost done with your look.

5. Look close and far.
This is why I use a magnifying mirror and standard mirror. You really want to magnify your eyes so you can really get that true blend. You also want to take a look and see how your face looks from a decent conversation distance, which is why I use the standard mirror.

6. Blend blend blend, until your arm is dead (another reason beauty blenders are amaze balls.)
I can not stress enough how important blending is, for face and eyes. Even when you think your blend is good enough, blend more. You want the colors to flow and you don’t want any harsh lines.

7. Brushes give a better blend than sponges.
This applies mainly to eyes. When you use brushes rather than the sponge tip applicator, the hairs of the brush really grab the shadows and helps blend them. When using sponges, it’s almost just like you’re smearing rather than blending. There’s a difference. My personal favorite brushes are Morphe Brushes. They’re high quality and super affordable.

8. Clean brushes = clean application.
This seems obvious, but some people forget. It’s important to deep clean your brushes weekly, depending how much you use them. Not only does deep cleaning get rid of bacterias, but it also gets rid of any color residue left over from previous applications. I’ll be doing a ‘how I clean my brushes’ post soon!

9. Foundation THEN concealer
People have been battling this back and forth forever. Just think about it, if you want to cover a specific area and you put concealer on it, then you blend your foundation over it, it pretty much blends away the concealer. You put your foundation on first, then pack the concealer where you want it. Then, set your face with a powder.

10. For a dramatic cat-eye use tape!
I love this trick, if you really want a dramatic cat-eye use scotch tape on the corners of your eye. I usually follow the curve of my lower lash line, to the end of my eyebrow. Apply your primer, shadow, and liner as normal, then slowly peel the tape. You’ll have a beautiful crisp cat eye with little to no fallout!

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About The Modern Lady's Guide

We've all heard them before, our mothers taught us, our aunts warned us, and our grandmothers led the way. The Modern Lady's Guide is bringing the old rules up-to-date. Because let's face it, if we can update our phones, hair-styles, and wardrobes, we better be able to update our rule book. So go grab a beer, and get to reading.